


Sandstorm (aka The Tatooine Tourism Council)

by JediDryad



Series: February Fluff: 28 Ways Luke and Mara Get it Together at last. [13]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Fluff, Awkward Conversations, F/M, Pathetic fallacy, back to Tatooine, but wow we're having a conversation, february fluff, frienship and secondary missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediDryad/pseuds/JediDryad
Summary: Mara accompanies Luke on a mission to Obi Wan Kenobi’s old home on Tatooine, but a sandstorm comes up and traps them there.
Relationships: Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker
Series: February Fluff: 28 Ways Luke and Mara Get it Together at last. [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129439
Comments: 15
Kudos: 43





	Sandstorm (aka The Tatooine Tourism Council)

“So I was right”, Mara teased as Luke secured the storm doors and turned on the emergency system. Soft, low lights illuminated the otherwise pitch black space.

“Sandstorms do come up fast on Tatooine.”

When she’d first emerged from their ship in goggles and a sandshawl, Luke had ribbed her for her stereotypical attire, insisting that no one wore those articles of clothing as an everyday matter. 

Well, who looked prepared now?

“It was always a risk coming this far out,” he replied flatly. “At least we have shelter.”

He seemed agitated.

“Hate these things?” She asked, trying to figure out where his sudden lack of humour came from. Up to this point, she’d actually been finding him significantly more genial than usual. Getting away from Yavin and his Jedi Master responsibilities looked good on him. And so far she’d managed to avoid the traps that upset the delicate balance of their rapport. It was nice to exist in this friendship-like state with him, even if it always did seem like it could fall apart at any minute.

“No actually. I always kind of liked them, as long as everyone was safe. I used to lay in my bed and listen to the wind.The planet kind of comes alive.” His eyes glittered with nostalgia and Mara wondered why they suddenly seemed bluer than usual.

“So why the bad mood?” she prompted, “It’s going to delay us a bit, but I’m the one who gets all caught up in schedules and deadlines, not you.”

He shrugged and glanced around like he was searching for words. It was a refreshing look for him and a welcome reminder that there was more to Luke than the Jedi cloak he wrapped himself in most of the time. Quite frankly, she acknowledged as she watched him fidget in a simple sand coloured tunic and pants, she liked him better without it.

“It’s just…” he finally started, 

“Well, anyone who’s ever heard of Tatooine just thinks it’s all gangsters and sandstorms. I wanted to be able to show you it’s more than that.”

He looked so disappointed, Mara fought not to smile.

“I thought we were here because you keep dreaming of Kenobi’s old place and you want to see if there was something here to find?”

He nodded and dropped to the bench next to her, a picture of dejection.

“Yeah, but I had a secondary mission. You said you’d only been to Jabba’s Palace. It’s not exactly the best we have to offer.”

We?

“Luke Skywalker, Chair of the Tatooine Tourism Council?” She tilted her head as she scrutinized him. “I thought you hated it here.”

He nodded.

“I did, every day. But the place deserves some respect. It’s an unforgiving climate and people do just fine.”

She thought of all the snide comments she’d made about Tatooine over the years. It would appear they bothered Luke more than he’d ever let on.

“They’re good negotiators.” she offered, wondering if there was a way she could make up for her prejudice, “I definitely overpaid for this sandshawl thing.”

He grinned then.

“High praise from a Master Trader.”

At the reminder of her chosen profession, Mara looked away and pulled the shawl more tightly around herself.

“Something like that.”

She could hear the wind howling outside the hut. Luke was right. It was as though the sand was dancing. It rolled against the walls like waves. She understood why they gave the name ‘seas’ to the vast stretches of uninterrupted desert.

“Not the dream you thought it was?” His words broke into her reverie and she’d swung back over to look at him before she realized it.

His expression was thoughtful, more open than he’d been lately. 

“I don’t have a dream, Skywalker.” she stated firmly. “You know that. There’s no mystical fate out there waiting for me to find it.”

He shifted a bit closer to her, the light patterns changing across his face as he did so.

“Do you really believe that?” She realized they were almost touching and looked away.

“Ah yes, the man of destiny can’t imagine others might live differently.” she scoffed. How could she expect him to understand?

He put his left arm on the ledge behind them to face her more squarely.

“No, that’s not it. You just always seem like you go for what you want. And you succeed. I assumed you wanted to be the galaxy’s most amazing Trader, and I’m sorry if it’s not all you imagined it to be.”

His lashes dipped low as he glanced to the dark floor. “I know the feeling.”

She knew he did. She’d seen the way his work had weighed him down, and almost killed him more than once. She’d watched him grow more separate from the galaxy as his skills and responsibilities grew. He’d chosen it though, she reminded herself. He’d made a decision, just like she had.

“I used to think I was part of a grand plan, Skywalker. You know that. I played my invaluable role in a noble cause greater than myself... and I trusted my master.”

He looked like he wanted to interject, but she held up a hand.

“It was a bad idea.

The trading thing… is solid work. It’s honest, and useful. It’s definitely dull and unfulfilling at times, but it’s healthier for me.”

And for the galaxy. She added in her mind. She wondered if Luke had picked up on that.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily the way it has to be for you.” 

“And I don’t think you need to be stuck on that moon, shouldering the burdens of the galaxy alone, but you are. We’ve made our choices.”

“I don’t know what else I’d do.” He shrugged and pulled his arm back into his lap.

“I know,” she answered. She took a deep breath wondering if what she wanted to say would be an irrevocable mistake.

“You don’t have to pretend you’re all alone though.”

Luke’s gaze sharpened.

“Neither do you.”

“I like the solitude.” she snapped, recognizing the blatant hypocrisy as she said it.

Luke’s expression became withering.

She grabbed his hand.

“Leia, Han,” she began counting off names on his fingers, “Lando, Chewbacca, Antilles - “ she grabbed his other hand and kept counting, “Karrde, Kam, Tionne, Cilghal, Horn… You’re out of fingers, and that’s just off the top of my head. You’re not alone, Luke. Stop acting like no one could ever understand you.”

He curled his fingers around hers and she tried to ignore it.

“You left yourself off the list.”

Once again, she’d made a mistake, been too honest. Once again, Luke had caught it instantly. He was clearly in a hyper attuned mood. They never lasted long and there was no point in risking this detente they’d found simply because it was a load of shavit. She was the only one who knew that.

The best answer would be to just make some quip about it being assumed since she was the one sitting here in the dark with him.

“I don’t belong on it.”

Luke looked confused.

“Karrde does but you don’t?”

She should have kept her mouth shut.

“Then file me under Karrde.”

“File you under…? Mara…” He was bewildered.

“I don’t belong on the list.”

She twisted her hands out of his as easily as they both knew she could and stepped back from him into the shadows.

“I left your kriffing academy right before you were almost killed. I disappeared for months because you fell in love. I raced to the ends of the galaxy, pretended to sleep with one of your best friends, as if it mattered.

I wasn’t there when you needed to be rescued from some scaly trans dimensional creature that wanted to eat your soul. I’m not there for you when you need me. I come and I go when I feel like it.

I don’t know why you keep…”

She trailed off. He was the one in the bad mood. Why was she losing it?

“Why I keep what?” His voice was careful as though there were a swell of emotion he refused to let out. It was always like that, “What is it I keep doing?”

She sighed.

“I’m not your friend, Luke. Not like Antilles or Horn, or Calrissian.”

“Yes,” he murmured, standing up and crossing over to her, “I can see that.”

Mara stood firmly waiting for him to elaborate. She’d given him a lot to absorb. It would take a minute, but, no doubt he would soon be full of polite excuses, insistences that they were friends, of course they were friends. She might even let him think she believed him. They were stuck in this sandstorm for Force knew how long after all. She would let him speak his piece, let him think she believed it, and then try harder to avoid him next time.

He didn’t.

Instead he stepped into her space, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. It was not the sort of kiss she would have expected from Luke. This was fervent possessive need, and when she grabbed at his tunic to keep him near, he deepened the kiss until her knees were weak and she was seeing stars because she’d forgotten to breathe.

“You’re right.” he said, breathing heavily, “about not being my friend. It appears you’re a whole lot more than that.

Mara nodded and barely hesitated before letting go of his tunic and throwing her arms around him as she kissed him back, feeling warmth flood her as they sank back onto the bench together.

She settled into Luke’s lap, relishing the feel of his arms around her, chest rising and falling against her back.

“Risky move, Farmboy. If this hadn’t gone your way, the rest of this storm could have been very awkward.”

He chuckled and she remembered that she was the one who’d shoved them into potentially awkward territory.

“Yoda always said I was reckless.”

“Umhmm, she kissed his ear. “Is this what you were looking for in Kenobi’s home?”

“Secondary mission.” he murmured, running his lips across her cheek to her neck, and she chuckled.

“Does the Tatooine Tourism Council offer suggested activities for beings trapped in a sandstorm?”

“I could probably arrange a demonstration.”

His arms tightened around her and she realized the sandshawl had hit the ground at some point in the last moments.

She pulled him to her.


End file.
